No matter how positive you feel when you wake up, hours of dealing with negativity and demands from other people can leave you completely drained by the end of the day. Why? Energy healers call it aura, or the personal energy we all carry with us. When you’re weighed down by external or internal negativity, your personal energy suffers.

These 8 simple strategies can keep outside forces from sapping your energy and help you recharge when you feel deflated.

Salt baths are more than just indulgent, says Eden Clark, an energy medicine practitioner based in Laguna Beach, CA. “After a heavy day, or if you’re really emotional, run a hot bath and put in 2 to 3 cups of Dead Sea salt to relax and feel better,” she says. While naturally occurring Dead Sea salt has a higher mineral content, Epsom salt works, too.

If you don’t have time for a bath, simply take a handful and scrub yourself with it in the shower, suggests John Leto, an energy medicine practitioner also based in Laguna Beach, CA.

When you come home feeling down about something that happened, light a candle and grab a piece of paper or a twig. Take a deep breath, then exhale and blow all of your stress into that object. “Keep blowing until you feel like it’s all up and out,” Clark says. Then let the fire consume it, making sure you’re nowhere near flammable materials.

Head outside. The fresh oxygen, open space, and presence of plants (even just a few) is grounding, energy-expanding, and connecting, Leto says. If you can, allow your bare feet to touch dirt or grass for extra energy benefits. You’ll absorb negatively charged electrons from the soil, which balance positively charged free radicals that may lead to inflammation, says Stephen Sinatra, MD, an integrative cardiologist and author of Reverse Heart Disease Now.

While fitness gives you a hit of mood-lifting chemicals like endorphins, it also affects you energetically. “By working out, you’re moving your energy, or your qi,” Clark says, referring to the concept of the body having a "life force" or "energy flow" in traditional Chinese medicine. Holistic therapies like acupuncture and acupressure also aim to get your qi flowing and clear blockages, but hitting the gym is a great way to promote proper flow on a regular basis. (Short on time? Check out these 25 easy ways to fit in 10 minutes of feel-good exercise.)

Doing breath work is an ideal way to kick-start your energy first thing in the morning or to shake off the day’s tension in the evening. “As you breathe, set the intention of moving stale, heavy energy out,” Clark says. There are many therapeutic breath-work techniques, but Breath of Fire, an energizing yoga breathing exercise, is a simple place to begin.

Here’s how to do it: Start sitting cross-legged with your hand on your belly. Breathe in, then exhale completely. Inhale deeply once more, and release it in short bursts through your nostrils by contracting your abdominals quickly 8 to 10 times, as if someone were hitting you in the gut.

Your cell phone doesn’t do your health any favors (studies suggest a link between mobile devices and issues like depression and cheek and ear rashes). Another reason to limit tech time: “A cell phone is sending out different signals and radiation,” Clark says. “It’s absolutely taxing to your energy.” At night, don’t put your phone right by your head, and if you can, turn off both your mobile device and your wireless Internet to give yourself a break from the frequencies.

Smudging, the practice of lighting a plant like dried sage and circling it around a space or your body, is the energetic equivalent of opening up your windows and airing out the house. “When you light sage, that smoke is the cleansing agent that clears your energy field,” Leot says. Imagine the smoke dissolving any heaviness in your body. If you’re familiar with your chakras, you can bring it near those areas to clear them out (learn more about your energy centers with The Secrets In Your Chakras). If you don’t like the smell of sage, try sticks from the palo santo (“holy wood”) tree ($7; rodales.com).

Himalayan salt lamps, plug-in LED lights housed in pink salt crystals, lend a soft glow to any room. But that’s not all. “The salt crystals give off negative ions in a room and really help neutralize heavy energy,” Clark says. For full effect, place one in each corner of a room for a calming energy. Try the natural, fair trade lamps at Solay Wellness (natural-salt-lamps.com).